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Joseph Greene
Joseph Gerald Greene (2 July 1832 - 14 May 1925) was a Brunanter politician and former President from 1888 to 1891. A member of the White Party, Greene was a rightist politician, appointed to Congress in 1870 by King Johan I. Following incarceration in the aftermath of the Liberal Revolution in 1881, he fled to France, where he plotted with other émigrés and later the king for a possible return of the old king. Biography Early life Joseph Greene was born in Orpington, Kent (England), to a somewhat wealthy family. His father immigrated to Brunant in 1837 or 1838, working in the shipping business. His mother, Clothilde Harris, was of French descent. Years in congress King Johan I appointed Greene to Congress in 1870, seeking to balance out the power of his liberal president Filip Van Buskirk. Greene supported Pieter Van Neyt's presidency (1876-1882) after unsuccessfully trying to claim the White Party fraction leadership, and was made Minister of Justice in 1879. During the Koningstad uprising in early 1881, Greene was one of the few politicians who continued to support the king. He supported the dissolution of congress and the imposition of martial law. He did not explicitly back Prince Fabian's military assaults on the barricaded citizens, but did not oppose them. When soldiers mutinied and joined republican elements, Greene attempted to mediate between Van Neyt, by then heading the largest republican faction, and the royalists, but was thwarted by the Crown Prince when he and mutinous troops stormed the royal palace and deposed the king. Greene was arrested in his home by soldiers and kept at the Koningstad Prison until released in November 1881. Exile years Greene fled to France in early 1882. Former king Johan named him Baron Greene in 1884, but the title was never recognized in Brunant. Presidency Greene returned to Brunant in 1885, joining the White Party and leading an internal coup that saw him named party president in August 1886. Speaking out heavily against Filip Van Buskirk's presidency, particularly his high spending policies, he quietly began acquiring further support from both lower and upper-class citizens and many in his party. In 1888, he was able to defeat Van Buskirk in elections to take over as president. There was much animosity between Greene and King Pieter II; the king could not move against Greene or else he would be betraying the very foundations of the 1881 revolution, and Greene could likewise not have Johan return to Brunant. He was an opponent of liberal democracies and very much admired Otto von Bismarck, and often clashed with the king. Greene was further at odds with the king and his supporters following a failed assassination attempt on Pieter at the hands of Anthony Lesnisch in 1888, of which some accused him of supporting or at least allowing. Still, at that time he had much support from the military and could not be removed. From 1890, he began to plot with several rightist elements in the Royal Guard to perhaps depose Pieter and reinstate Johan to the throne. Captain-General Anders Kluijskens was not inclined to act against the king, but Greene did have the support of the 6th Infantry Company. On 15 June 1891, the mutinous soldiers were betrayed and the king ordered several officers and soldiers arrested by other units. The majority of the guard were unwilling to act against their king and only sporadic firefights took place before rebellious troops surrendered. Greene himself was shot in his home in unknown circumstances and was then arrested. Later life and death He was again imprisoned in Koningstad Prison, charged with sedition, treason and numerous other charges. Greene was pardoned in 1912 after serving 11 years. Following the October Plot and King Pieter's assassination, Greene was arrested despite no apparent participation in the plot. This time, he was held at Carrington Prison, but despite his appeals and advanced age, was to be charged with treason, sedition and conspiracy to regicide. Eventually, he was released in a general clemency by Johan I in December 1914 before he could be charged. Greene, by then frail, retired to Middleton, where he died in 1925 at the age of 91. Category:Politicians Category:Presidents Category:Dead people Category:1832 births Category:Congresspeople Category:Ministers Category:Exiles